Saturday, November 28th saw the Niagara College men's volleyball program improve to 6-2 on the season with an impressive five set road victory over the No. 1 ranked Mohawk Mountaineers. The set scores in the contest were 25-20, 25-18, 12-25, 24-26, 15-12.
The match marked the fourth time this season the Knights have gone to five sets with an opponent, a fact that Niagara College men's volleyball head coach Nathan Groenveld feels is important for the growth of his young players. "I cannot overstate the importance of playing in and finding ways to win matches like this for the development of this group and our program" said Groenveld after the victory. "Playing and evaluating our performance in this type of an environment will give us tons of learning opportunities and areas to grow as a group."
The Knights got an outstanding performance from first-year outside hitter Sameh Khodr. A native of Kalamoun, Lebanon, Khodr is in his first year with the Knights. Against the Mountaineers, he showed why he is one of the top rookies in the OCAA finishing with 20 kills (on just 32 attempts), two blocks, and an ace for a season high 23 points.
The Knights entered the match having lost two consecutive games. The road matchup against the top-ranked Mountaineers proved just the motivation to get the Knights back to their winning ways. "Overall the result was a good team win" added Groenveld. "Tonight proved to be a great tilt between two of the top men's volleyball teams in the country."
The Knights will wrap up the first half of the 2015-16 season on Thursday, December 3rd when the team hosts the Redeemer Royals at 8:00pm the Welland athletic centre. The event will see the team collect used winter clothing in support of the The Hope Centre in Welland. All attendees are encouraged to bring any un-needed winter clothing with them to the contest.
